I was at a huge meet recently (more than 600 swimmers) and thus the warmup/warmdown pool (3 lanes, 25 yards) was very crowded.
There were about 5 people in the lane I was warming up in, including one guy who kept barreling into the wall when there were two of us already there, who did flip turns at full force and nearly killed me with one, and then kept swimming down the middle of the lane between the two-way circling traffic.
I felt this was dangerous. I stopped him by pulling on his suit and told him so. He said something back that wasn't "Oh, sorry!" and continued to barrel around people.
I got out.
What is the etiquette for warmup/warmdown pools at such large meets? I know people need to sprint some, but this guy really could have hurt me or any of the other swimmers in the lane.
I tried to search to see if this has been discussed before but didn't find anything. I know that most accidents/injuries at meets occur in the warmup/warmdown pool.
What is the etiquette? Should I have gotten a more official person to tell this guy to respect the other swimmers?
P.S. I swam all my events despite only 3 weeks back in the water, including the 400 IM, which I decided to consider performance art.
Yes, I really shoud change the direction of this thread and say I AM SO PROUD THAT I SWAM ALL MY EVENTS (though I slept through the 100 free; bummer; I would have done a good time), and thinking of the 400 IM as performance art is going to be my new attitude for that swim.
I very nearly got dq'd as I flipturned for the backstroke. That was the most performance-art part of my swim. First there was the silent dialogue: Oh dear God, puuleeeeze let my continuous slow-motion turn keep moving toward the wall. (I don't think that's Samuel Beckett-worthy but still, that was the dialogue.)
Then there was the turn and the hope that my little toes would at least brush the wall.
And my little toes just brushed the wall, like a very small watercolor paintbrush.
It was a work of art. The whole swim.
ha ha ha ha. Remember, I had just gotten my cast off 3 weeks before!
Again, the performance art angle: my time wasn't much worse than when I train a lot.
Again, the performance art angle: for some reason I LOVE the 400 IM, perhaps because it is art, the way I do it.
Really, very slow swimming can be very graceful. :)
Yes, I really shoud change the direction of this thread and say I AM SO PROUD THAT I SWAM ALL MY EVENTS (though I slept through the 100 free; bummer; I would have done a good time), and thinking of the 400 IM as performance art is going to be my new attitude for that swim.
I very nearly got dq'd as I flipturned for the backstroke. That was the most performance-art part of my swim. First there was the silent dialogue: Oh dear God, puuleeeeze let my continuous slow-motion turn keep moving toward the wall. (I don't think that's Samuel Beckett-worthy but still, that was the dialogue.)
Then there was the turn and the hope that my little toes would at least brush the wall.
And my little toes just brushed the wall, like a very small watercolor paintbrush.
It was a work of art. The whole swim.
ha ha ha ha. Remember, I had just gotten my cast off 3 weeks before!
Again, the performance art angle: my time wasn't much worse than when I train a lot.
Again, the performance art angle: for some reason I LOVE the 400 IM, perhaps because it is art, the way I do it.
Really, very slow swimming can be very graceful. :)
